“Recording you,” he said.

“For what, sweetheart?”

Lily pressed her lips together the way she did whenever she was afraid to say something aloud.

“She says,” the little girl whispered, “that she has to show you how I act when you’re not around.”

Chapter 3 — The Weight in His Chest

Marcus remained on one knee, holding his daughter’s small hands and forcing himself to keep his expression calm and his voice gentle even as the weight inside his chest grew colder.

Because he believed her.

That was the first and most important thing, the decision on which everything afterward would depend, and it happened before Marcus had a single piece of proof.

He did not assume Lily was exaggerating, confused, or inventing a story about a stepmother she resented.

He looked at his frightened six-year-old daughter, whispering carefully so she would not be heard, and knew with a certainty deeper than reason that she was telling him the truth.